''Sesbania formosa'' (common names - White dragon tree, Vegetable humming bird, Swamp corkwood; Dragon tree; Dragon flower tree) is a

leguminous A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...

tree native to northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, first described in 1860 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

as ''Agati formosum'', from specimens collected the banks of the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Fitzmaurice River The Fitzmaurice River is a river in Australia's Northern Territory. Course The river drains into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf in the Timor Sea from a source just north of the Wombungi homestead. The river flows in a westerly direction between th ...

s. It was transferred to the genus, ''

Sesbania ''Sesbania'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, and the only genus found in tribe Sesbanieae. Riverhemp is a common name for plants in this genus. Notable species include the rattlebox ('' Sesbania punicea''), spiny sesb ...

,'' by

Nancy Burbidge Nancy Tyson Burbidge (5 August 1912 – 4 March 1977) was an Australian systemic botanist, conservationist and herbarium curator. Early life and training Burbidge was born in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire; her father, William Burbidge, was an Anglic ...

in 1965. It is native to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, and grows in tropical wetlands, to heights of 20 to 30 feet, in closed forests or swampy sites, from sea level to 100 m.

Gallery

Sesbania formosa.jpg,

MNHN The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loca ...

: P03076731 collected at Sesbania formosa 42453083.jpg

References

External links

''Sesbania formosa'' occurrence data
from

GBIF The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the ...

. {{Taxonbar, from=Q15537989 Faboideae Trees of Australia Nitrogen-fixing crops